<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Ghosts Made of Sheets are Still Ghosts by C1ashi1dr</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24518131">Ghosts Made of Sheets are Still Ghosts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/C1ashi1dr/pseuds/C1ashi1dr'>C1ashi1dr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Thirteen Fanzine Prompt Week [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt, Gen, Haunted Houses, Kinda fluff, Not a lot of comfort, haunted, kinda angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:07:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,292</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24518131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/C1ashi1dr/pseuds/C1ashi1dr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor planned a fun excursion with the Fam to the best haunted house in the universe. She'd not expected this.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Team TARDIS - Relationship, Thirteenth Doctor &amp; Yasmin Khan &amp; Graham O'Brien &amp; Ryan Sinclair</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Thirteen Fanzine Prompt Week [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ghosts Made of Sheets are Still Ghosts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>welcome to "jo just can't write at reasonable times and thus churns these out mere hours before midnight". this one is unbeta'd so all mistake are mine and i'm sorry in advance. this is for <a href="https://thirteenfanzine.tumblr.com/">@thirteenfanzine's</a> prompt week, with the second prompt of "Haunted". I hope you guys enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Doctor let out a squawk surprise as the Cyberman lurched forward, arms outstretched reaching for her. She stumbled back, one foot catching over the other and it was pure luck that Yaz was there to steady her, even if she was laughing. The Doctor felt her face burn as Ryan and Graham followed suit and soon all of them were laughing at her. The Doctor knew she was beat red, she had to be, she could feel the heat even as she shoved away from Yaz with perhaps a bit more force than necessary. There was a little grunt of protest, but the Doctor didn't register it until a few moments later and even then she didn't feel guilt for it. </p><p>Yaz looked a little hurt at the action but she was still laughing with Ryan, laughing at the Doctor. She crossed her arms over her chest, turned her back for a moment, tried to calm her racing hearts. Of course it was fake, she knew it was fake, she was an idiot for thinking otherwise. </p><p>It had been Ryan’s idea, miffed about the fact that he’d missed Halloween while out traveling with her. After a round of teasing (most of which involving Yaz calling Ryan a kid for still celebrating Halloween with any kind of seriousness) the Doctor had suggested a trip in honor of the spooky holiday. It claimed to have the greatest haunted house in the universe, the most sophisticated scares and thrills to give a fix to any adrenaline junkie. But she clearly wasn’t prepared for what a haunted house would actually entail. They'd been on plenty of adventures that were scarier than this, but somehow...it was just getting under her skin.</p><p>It was ridiculous, she was the Doctor. The Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, she’d faced whole fleets of Daleks without an ounce of fear souring her hearts. But there was something about this place that drove to the very base of her skull, that tugged down her barriers and amplified everything she didn’t want to feel.</p><p> After a few seconds, it was Graham who noticed her spiralling first, his hand a warm weight on her shoulder. She sighed quietly, some of the tension ebbing. Everything was fine, it was fake. She just had to remember that. His hand squeezed her shoulder gently</p><p>“You alright, cockle?” he asked, eyes concerned as she turned back to them. Yaz and Ryan were still recovering from their giggling fit, though Yaz looked to be trying harder than Ryan was. He was still snorting quietly and they lingered longer in the hallway of the Cyberman. Luckily whoever was behind them weren't too eager about moving on, if the shrieks from the previous room were anything to go by.</p><p>"Yeah, 'm fine!" the Doctor declared, trying to put her normal level of buoyancy into the words. She wasn't going to be outdone by some stupid puppet. As if to prove it, she squared up to the Cyberman, chest out and strode past it. That would show her Fam, she was alright. She could handle anything that the universe threw at her. She was the Doctor, a coward, yes, but a Scaredy cat? Never, she'd never be scared of-</p><p>"EXTERMINATE!" The shout rang through the hall and the Doctor jumped again, this time giving a half shriek half squawk to exclaim her terror. Ryan doubled over this time, laughing louder than was acceptable for a haunted house and Yaz gave a small chuckle before catching sight of the Doctor's pout.</p><p>"I think we'd best move onto the next room," Graham said, herding them towards the door. It was probably only to be courteous to those behind them, but the Doctor could help the sting of betrayal going through her. This place was clearly a death trap for Time Lords and Graham just wanted her to walk straight to it. She should talk to him after this was all over, he deserved to know just how she felt-</p><p>The Silurian that leapt out at her was actually bloody chasing her. Panic mode officially took over in that moment, the quick movements of the lizard person triggering something in the Doctor's brain and she ran. Ducking past Yaz (who somehow had ended up in front of her) and on into the next room, the Doctor didn't bother to look back until she'd put a good distance between her and that Silurian. She finally slowed, entering a room full of mirrors. </p><p>Mirrors she could do. The Doctor was a fan of mirrors, at least these kinds of mirrors. They made her look all silly and Yaz would always laugh when she made her face look tiny and her body gargantuan in proportion. It would even get a chuckle out of Graham, who normally stared at the things with a small, fond smile on her face.</p><p>So much for being the brave Doctor, the Oncoming Storm. She couldn't even weather a stupid haunted house. Kids probably did better than her. Kids! And here she was, a grown Time Lord, getting scared of puppets and people in masks and-</p><p>"Doctor!" Ryan's voice rang through the hall of mirrors. The Doctor hadn't quite realized how far she wandered until she realized she couldn't get out. Of course just another thing to go wrong. The Doctor had half a mind to just summon the TARDIS and take her leave once the Fam found her. This entire trip had been ruined because she couldn't face up for more than a couple minutes.</p><p>Ryan found her first, sitting against one of the mirrors, knees against her chest. She scrambled to her feet the moment she realized he was there, but it was too late. His face was wrinkled with concern and he approached carefully, as if she were a caged animal.</p><p>"It's alright, Doc," he said, offering a smile. It looked fake, even to the Doctor. "Yaz and Graham are right behind me. Thankfully this is the last room, so we can get out of here."</p><p>The Doctor nodded. Remembering the layout had been hard, it had been a miracle that she got this far and they waited for Yaz and Graham to catch up, the former of whom immediately reached her side and looked her over to make sure she wasn't hurt. The action touched the Doctor's heart and she swallowed thickly, unable to do anything but nod when they asked if she was alright.</p><p>She took the lead in exiting, chin as high as it could be all things considered, and when they got back to the TARDIS, she slumped against the TARDIS, a tired smile already on her face.</p><p>"Sorry Fam," the Doctor said, fighting to keep her voice from trembling. It worked. "Didn't mean to ruin the trip." </p><p>"You didn't ruin it," Yaz said almost immediately. It was a nice thought, but Yaz was always saying stuff like that. "Were quite fun, weren't it? Seein' all those monsters."</p><p>"Yeah," Ryan said. A beat of silence, the TARDIS humming faintly in the background. "Look, Doc, sorry about laughing at you back there. It weren't very funny and I know it musta made you uncomfortable."</p><p>"Who, me?" the Doctor said, straightening a bit. Her Fam didn't need to worry about her. "Nah! Didn't affect me in the slightest. Just a little startled seein' all my worst enemies in one place."</p><p>They all exchanged looks, doubting looks. But they didn't say anything, instead each retired to their rooms, leaving the Doctor to stand at the console alone, head against the center column. A bit uncomfortable, yes, but she needed to feel closer to the only thing in the universe that could possibly understand that utter terror she'd felt.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>please come check me out <a href="https://joanwolfe.tumblr.com/">@joanwolfe</a> on tumblr, where i accept prompts and i shitpost about doctor who and various other fandoms. also feel free to leave a kudos or a comment, those always make my day.</p><p>~~jo</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>